Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Episode 31 (Epilogue): International Day of the Midwife

We began tonight's show by airing this sneak preview of the Midwives Alliance of North America's I Am a Midwife educational series, officially launching this Saturday in celebration of International Day of the Midwife. Please share these tools far and wide. Many people still have misconceptions about midwives and the skill and education with which they practice. These videos will be excellent teaching tools.

We then welcomed Ifeyinwa Egwaoje on the air to tell us about The Birthing Project Nigeria. Here she is speaking during her nine months at The Birthing Project USA in New Orleans, about empowering women. We are all deeply inspired by the vision of this young woman and the change she is making throughout the world.

Next we heard from Susan Lambert, Board Member for Casa Materna Mary Ann Jackman in rural Nicaragua. This is a short photo journal of the residential prenatal and postnatal facility, now celebrating twenty years of reducing maternal mortality in Central America.

Nurse Midwife Mary Koroma, our last guest of the show, will be speaking in St. Petersburg tomorrow evening (Wednesday, May 2nd at 6:30pm in the art space at 1100 First Avenue North). She will discuss her fight for infant and maternal health in Sierra Leone, where she founded a Birth Clinic that serves patients and provides training for traditional birth attendants. She has also started projects to raise resources to sustain the clinic while meeting the needs of the community, including four vegetable farms, a community fishing project, and a vocational institute. In this video, she discusses her brilliant, sustainable vision for community driven and people-powered reform. For more information visit developmentforafrica.org.

Finally, we revisited our December interview with Ibu Robin Lim of Yayasan Bumi Sehat and her daughter Deja Bernhardt, director of the documentary Guerrilla Midwife, coming to WSLR this Saturday for An Afternoon in Bali. Robin Lim embodies the celebration of the International Day of the Midwife. "The very best way that I know (to reduce maternal and infant mortality) is to support midwifery to mother care," said Lim in her acceptance speech as the 2011 CNN Hero of the Year. Buy your tickets now to see an exclusive film screening of the documentary about her work, as well as live traditional Balinese dance from the Purnama Sari Balinese Dance Company, and an authentic Indonesian meal provided by Curry Creek Cafe.

Finally, we gave thanks for the midwives in our own part of the world, who have welcomed our babies, become our friends, changed our lives, built our village, and underwritten our radio program. Sarasota has a thriving midwifery community with two freestanding birth centers and five licensed midwives, with two more becoming licensed in the coming months. If you are curious about the midwifery model of care, we strongly encourage you to visit Rosemary Birthing Home or Birthways Family Birth Center for a tour.

Happy International Day of the Midwife, and we'll see you at 525 Kumquat Court on Saturday, May 5 from 3 to 6pm for An Afternoon in Bali!